In this reading, we find God establishing a new covenant with the Hebrew people. Instead of outward, visible signs of faithfulness, God would write the promise on peoples’ hearts. The way a person speaks, behaves, and reacts to the world around them is rooted in what God has placed within them. No longer would acts of devotion, mercy, or piety be done out of a sense of obligation, fear, or for show, but instead would be an expression of what rests deeply within.
At the end of verse 33, we read “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” Part of what that means for God is forgiveness of sin and the promise of a clean slate when we repent of our sin (vs. 34). What does it mean to be “God’s people”? When people look at your individual life or our collective life as a faith community, how would they know we are God’s people?
Spend some time in silence, imagining what God might be writing on your heart. Offer a prayer, committing yourself to living out what God has placed on your heart.